What kind of sermon illustration will I be? Yesterday, a pastor from the Vietnamese Baptist Church came over to tour the studio and do an interview as part of a sermon on creativity and the arts. He brought a fella along to videotape our interview as well. It was a first for me. Super nice guys; they made me feel completely at ease; hopefully whatever I ended up saying will be well edited. The pastor sent the questions in advance. Even still, I felt ill-prepared.

The main facet to his questions had to do with the difference between painting by numbers and the type of art I create; and the difference between painting and just taking a photo. Looking back, I still am not quite sure how to answer either question. It must have something to do with my personality type that I was trying to think of the question behind the question. What did he want to prove? That painting by numbers is a valid form of art? That painting is more creative than photography…or vice verse? In my feeble explanations, I neglected to say that when I paint (I’ve said this here many times,) I focus on the big picture. What’s curious about that, is that as I leave out *unimportant* details, I draw attention to, if I do it well, one thing, which in turn becomes the focus, or detail.

Perhaps the question is, how does one incorporate an artistic focal point in one’s life and be fully engaged and intentional in how one lives creatively? I hesitate to use the word intentional. It’s become such a buzz word, especially in Christian circles. Shouldn’t we all live life on purpose? Even painting by numbers can be done intentionally. At least some sort of creating is getting done. Like my grandmother used to say, “I’m going to do something, even if it’s wrong.” Not to be cavalier, of course, but do something! Painting by numbers is still painting.

To completely change the subject and explain the photos, last night a small crowd of neighbors all came over for cake and cupcakes. I love our neighborhood. In truth, we were celebrating friendship, but it also just so happened to be Jenni’s birthday…an extra bonus!

If you are here because of the Houston Chronicle artbeat blog article, welcome.

After much ado, as of yesterday, I’ve finally gotten all the bits in place for the mosaic. They aren’t actually set and grouted, but are placed where they need to be….according to me. One of my favorite vases (and prop for still lifes) met an untimely demise, and is now a beautiful bit of sky. (See vase in Magnolia painting.)

Also, I’ve gathered and coordinated enough bits of copper, saw blades, and plumbing parts for eight more clocks. These are time and labor intensive to make. The plan is to start a clock making assembly line and work on all eight at the same time.

So far, the commission (which must remain a secret) is really taking shape. I ran out of Holbein silver white paint, though, so had to stop and order some from Amazon online. There is no Holbein silver white paint available at all in a 30 mile radius of the greater Houston area. One would think that in a city as diverse and cosmopolitan as Houston, that someone somewhere would have a 110ml (3.7 fl oz) tube of Holbein silver white oil paint. If it’s here, I couldn’t find it.

The Amazing Reese has been working on frames for the paintings that will be in Simply Art Gallery in Galveston. A year ago when someone bought something and wanted it framed in one of Reese’s gallery frames, we “borrowed” a frame from our daughter Joy’s painting. In addition to everything else, he finally replaced that one for Joy, too.

It’s been a busy week.

Through August 1st, I’ll have some paintings in Simply Art Gallery in Galveston. The next big event for the gallery is Art Walk on May 24th. Art Walk is a time when gallery spaces in Galveston coordinate to keep their doors open and host a progressive open house art party of sorts. In the spirit of goodwill and comradeship, they encourage visits between all of the other galleries in the area. A day at the beach, a walk on the Strand, and sipping wine while viewing (and buying) beautiful art….who could ask for anything more?

When life fives you lemons, make lemonade? Our life has been chock full of lemons lately. It’s like the universe has a trebuchet aimed at us and keeps filling it with Texas sized lemons (like this one.) We got yet another piece of disappointing news today. It’s so disheartening. Will it ever end?

That’s a dinner plate y’all. It grew on one of our neighbors trees.

And yes, I’m making lemonade.

Yesterday was spent painting Little Joe; something I have planned since March. That’s actually not a bad turn-around for me. Some paintings (or ideas for paintings) have been in the works for years.

A patron has recently commissioned me to paint something precious for them. Because my time has been divided between pursuits, some art related/some not, I felt a bit rusty. One of the biggest reasons for me to paint Little Joe now was to get the eye of the tiger back.

This is exactly my vision for this painting. Now to work on the commission….

How many times have I forgotten the amount of work that goes into various details of whatever project on which I happen to be working? Almost always. For whatever reason, I never seem to remember that detail work requires copious amounts of time and and an endless supply of patience. This clock for instance; someone commissioned me to build it. (I had built another one several years ago.) I glibly agreed that it could be easily completed in two weeks, forgetting, of course, all the precise detail work and steps required to properly assemble said clock. Precise means exact; if one aspect of this clock is even slightly off, then the whole thing is useless. I had to ask “the commissioner” for more time to complete the clock.

The face of the clock is an old saw blade. The frame around it is copper tubing. And there is an old gas valve attached to the top of the frame.

What a week. I’ve been working on a variety of art related stuff; too many things to tell stories about it all. Maybe I’ll tell the stories some day…..

This is an 10″ x 8″ painting of a Macho Fern from my backyard. A dear friend asked for a leaf painting….hope she likes it.

Anna updated her blog recently. Her April 20th entry amused me immensely.

My friend Joan and I painted together in the Rose Garden one week ago. This is another of the 10″ x 8″ paintings I’ve done recently.

The weather was lovely, a little on the chilly side for April in Houston. It would have been HOT if we had gone today. The last time I painted outside the wind blew the canvas right off the easel. That painting still has bits of the Japanese Garden embedded on it’s surface.

The Amazing Reese reminded me about a useful tool he had created for me a while back. It’s a little viewfinder that I can adjust depending on the size of the canvas. For instance, for an 8″ x 10″ canvas, one pushes or pulls in the sides so that the artist can focus on what will actually fit on the canvas. Because of this contraption, I was able to immediately focus on what to paint. Thank you, Reese.

It’s a little 10″ x 8″. I’ve done several paintings this size lately.

Come back tomorrow to see another.